LESSON ONE: USING CAPITAL LETTERS
Learning Goal: In today's lesson you will learn the rules for using capital letters.
The Six Rules of Capitalization That Will Change Your life Forever
English uses capital letters to point out important words.
This is the one element of English grammar that always
follows its rules. There are no lists of exceptions to memorize.
All you need to do is keep the rules in mind.
You will see many examples in your everyday life of the rules
being violated by advertisers, by graffiti artists and by
Internet users. That does not, however, change the rules.
It is important to write English correctly on applications,
in resumes, in business letters and in other formal situations
if you want the reader to have a high opinion of you.
Rule 1: All sentences begin with a capital letter, even sentences
that only consist of one word.
a. This is my house. (statement)
b. Are you going to school? (question)
c. Watch out for the truck! (exclamation)
d. Stop!
e. Wait!
f. Yesterday, when John woke up in the morning, he decided
to eat breakfast before getting dressed to
go to work in the city.
Rule 2: The proper name, the name of a specific person or thing,
begins with a capital letter. All other important words in the name
must also start with a capital letter. Words that do not need to be
written with a capital letter unless they are the first word of the
name are a, an, and, the, of,
to, by, etc.
(Following each proper name are one or more common names of
the same type of person or thing which do not need a capital
letter.)
a. Henry David Thoreau (a man, a writer)
b. Empire State Building (a building, a monument, a sky scraper)
c. Grand Canyon (a canyon, a geographical wonder, a tourist attraction)
d. Atlantic Ocean (an ocean, a body of water, a sea)
e. Metropolitan Museum of Art (a museum, an institute, a building)
f. Ford Explorer (an automobile, a sport utility vehicle, a car)
g. Harvard University (a college, a university, a school)
h. Union of South Africa (a country, a union, a nation)
i. Saudi Arabia (a country, a kingdom, a monarchy)
j. Saturday (a day, the weekend, tomorrow)
k. September (a month, beginning of school, end of summer)
l. Memorial Day (a holiday, a special occasion, a vacation day)
Rule 3: Titles of books, songs, stories, works of art, magazine articles,
tests, and other written materials must begin with a capital letter.
Every other important word of the title must also begin with a capital letter.
Words that do not need a capital letter unless they are the first word of the
title are a, an, and, of, to, the, etc.
a. Winnie the Pooh
b. To Kill a Mockingbird
c. The Merchant of Venice
d. The Star-spangled Banner
e. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
f. The New York Times
g. How to Win Friends and Influence People
h. The Carolina Test of Student Ability
Rule 4: The letter I, when used as a pronoun referring to yourself must always
be written as a capital letter.
a. I am not happy.
b. Am I the first person here?
c. Tell me what I have to do.
Rule 5: The first word of a direct quotation must begin with a capital
letter.
a. "Who's been sleeping in my bed?" Pappa Bear cried.
b. The president said, "Ask not what your country can do for you."
c. The teacher asked, "Can you answer this question?"
Rule 6: Titles of people when used with their names or in place of their
names must begin with a capital letter.
a. My boss is Mister Smith.
b. "Look out, Mister! You're in the way."
c. The members of the church waited for Reverend Jones.
d. The captain yelled at Sergeant Harris.
e. The sergeant replied, "Yes, sir, Captain. I understand."
f. My favorite queen is Queen Elizabeth of England.
There are other uses for capital letters in English, but these
six rules cover most of the situations you will find in your
writing. (adapted from: http://www.say-it-in-english.com/BasicEnglish8.html)
This is the one element of English grammar that always
follows its rules. There are no lists of exceptions to memorize.
All you need to do is keep the rules in mind.
You will see many examples in your everyday life of the rules
being violated by advertisers, by graffiti artists and by
Internet users. That does not, however, change the rules.
It is important to write English correctly on applications,
in resumes, in business letters and in other formal situations
if you want the reader to have a high opinion of you.
Rule 1: All sentences begin with a capital letter, even sentences
that only consist of one word.
a. This is my house. (statement)
b. Are you going to school? (question)
c. Watch out for the truck! (exclamation)
d. Stop!
e. Wait!
f. Yesterday, when John woke up in the morning, he decided
to eat breakfast before getting dressed to
go to work in the city.
Rule 2: The proper name, the name of a specific person or thing,
begins with a capital letter. All other important words in the name
must also start with a capital letter. Words that do not need to be
written with a capital letter unless they are the first word of the
name are a, an, and, the, of,
to, by, etc.
(Following each proper name are one or more common names of
the same type of person or thing which do not need a capital
letter.)
a. Henry David Thoreau (a man, a writer)
b. Empire State Building (a building, a monument, a sky scraper)
c. Grand Canyon (a canyon, a geographical wonder, a tourist attraction)
d. Atlantic Ocean (an ocean, a body of water, a sea)
e. Metropolitan Museum of Art (a museum, an institute, a building)
f. Ford Explorer (an automobile, a sport utility vehicle, a car)
g. Harvard University (a college, a university, a school)
h. Union of South Africa (a country, a union, a nation)
i. Saudi Arabia (a country, a kingdom, a monarchy)
j. Saturday (a day, the weekend, tomorrow)
k. September (a month, beginning of school, end of summer)
l. Memorial Day (a holiday, a special occasion, a vacation day)
Rule 3: Titles of books, songs, stories, works of art, magazine articles,
tests, and other written materials must begin with a capital letter.
Every other important word of the title must also begin with a capital letter.
Words that do not need a capital letter unless they are the first word of the
title are a, an, and, of, to, the, etc.
a. Winnie the Pooh
b. To Kill a Mockingbird
c. The Merchant of Venice
d. The Star-spangled Banner
e. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
f. The New York Times
g. How to Win Friends and Influence People
h. The Carolina Test of Student Ability
Rule 4: The letter I, when used as a pronoun referring to yourself must always
be written as a capital letter.
a. I am not happy.
b. Am I the first person here?
c. Tell me what I have to do.
Rule 5: The first word of a direct quotation must begin with a capital
letter.
a. "Who's been sleeping in my bed?" Pappa Bear cried.
b. The president said, "Ask not what your country can do for you."
c. The teacher asked, "Can you answer this question?"
Rule 6: Titles of people when used with their names or in place of their
names must begin with a capital letter.
a. My boss is Mister Smith.
b. "Look out, Mister! You're in the way."
c. The members of the church waited for Reverend Jones.
d. The captain yelled at Sergeant Harris.
e. The sergeant replied, "Yes, sir, Captain. I understand."
f. My favorite queen is Queen Elizabeth of England.
There are other uses for capital letters in English, but these
six rules cover most of the situations you will find in your
writing. (adapted from: http://www.say-it-in-english.com/BasicEnglish8.html)
Using Capital Letters Exercise:
On Your Own:
Copy down the following sentences in your notebook and correct any errors in capitalization.
1. john and paul wrote a song called help.
2. for lunch on sunday i had pizza and wings at the reeb house.
3. my principal said, "all the students are awesome"!
4. nigh road is just north of the high school and south of highway three.
5. the hunger games by suzanne collins is thrilling.
6. "your pet dog grover is so cute," mandy said.
Copy down the following sentences in your notebook and correct any errors in capitalization.
1. john and paul wrote a song called help.
2. for lunch on sunday i had pizza and wings at the reeb house.
3. my principal said, "all the students are awesome"!
4. nigh road is just north of the high school and south of highway three.
5. the hunger games by suzanne collins is thrilling.
6. "your pet dog grover is so cute," mandy said.